July 11: Response

"Daystar"
by Rita Dove

"... Later that night when Thomas rolled over and lurched into her, she would open her eyes and think of the place that was hers for an hour--- where she was nothing, pure nothing, in the middle of the day."

I had a particularly strong reaction to this last passage of the poem, because the "rape" imagery the author is creating with her words. When she describes her husband "lurching" into her, and consequently having to mentally remove herself from the situation, I interpreted this as a forced-sex type scenario. Or at least an extremely un-enjoyable one. The rest of the poem focuses mainly on her own personal thoughts and needing escape, but I interpreted her need for "escape" as a typical mother's frustration, not expecting it to include more serious topics of abuse. I think the abrupt segue into her sexual description was a strategic move by the author to intentionally "surprise" the reader this this new information. It brings the poem to a new level of seriousness, and also reminds us that there are many reasons why she returns to the "place that was hers for an hour--- where she was nothing, pure nothing, in the middle of the day".

"A Pair of Silk Stockings"
by Kate Chopin

I really enjoyed this short story. After reading the first page or so, I thought the story would go on until the end about all the things she was "supposed" to be buying, making it another story about a saddened woman with a mundane duty to her family. The passage that started creating imagery for me was this:

"She was not thinking at all. She seemed for the time to be taking a rest from that laborious and fatiguing function and to have abandoned herself to some mechanical impulse that directed her actions and freed her of responsibility."

After that, I felt that the mood of this story lightened up tremendously. While the previous paragraphs seemed to drag on for me, the latter bit of the story after this realization seemed to speed up; like the actions of Mrs. Sommers were spilling out of her without control and the words of the story reflected that. I imagined her a person who was possessed by a ghost or something; literally floating through town from place to place, just picking things out and wafting over to the next destination. I like how the story ended without an explanation, or any kind of inner-dialogue from Mrs. Sommers about what she had done. I had a feeling of satisfaction at the end, I felt like she was somewhat at peace with the idea that some things just happen and you should've over-analyze them, or dwell on feelings of guilt because of them.

"Why I Want a Wife"
by Judy Syfers

I think the main idea of this story is about the unfairness of marriage, and relationships in general. Obviously, this woman recognizes those injustices, and describes them in great detail. I noticed something interesting about the order in which she lists off a wife's duties... first come the technical things, like feeding the children, keeping track of appointments, and managing a her work schedule. Then come more specific details, regarding who is entitled to complaining about their day, social life, and the complexities of entertaining (his) guests. Then at the end, the list of wifely-duties takes on a more serious tone. It includes sexual needs, birth control, and the abandonment of a man after a divorce. It's almost as if she's saved the "best for last", or in this case, the worst and most upsetting for last.

The last two or three paragraphs are what created the most imagery for me. At the beginning of the story, she mentioned that she was ironing, so as the list of wifely duties became more serious and intense, I pictured her becoming more and more aggressive with her ironing, basically until the last paragraph where I imagined her just scorching big iron-burns into the clothes. His clothes, maybe? That would be appropriate, I guess.

I think the progression of this story makes a lot of sense, and helps the story to function as a whole. When an author lists things off in a story, I feel like there's a sense of anticipation being created, with a big finale waiting at the end.